# Is skywriting still a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332 "2021-04-03T16:56:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/1 "2021-04-03T16:56:35Z")
In the 70’s and 80’s, i could see a couple of writings per year. I don’t think I’ve seen one in 25 years but I’ve lived in rural areas all that time so very few people would see the message. Do they still happen over bigger cities? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/2 "2021-04-03T17:01:09Z")
There is a religious zealot that hires a plane to fly over Disney World daily to spell out something like “Jesus Loves You”. I think it is only over the resorts and not the parks. On the Jersey Shore, skywriting still happens along with the banner towing in the summer. The banners are more popular but the skywriting still happens and many companies offer the service. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/3 "2021-04-03T17:04:39Z")
Happens on Long Island occasionally. Long linear shoreline with beachgoers, so planes can be hired to spam the sky. Instead of the classic skywriting where a single plane loops to make a script word, I often see a team of planes releasing pillows of puffy white that work like pixels to spell out the message. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/4 "2021-04-03T17:10:49Z")
Skytyping has almost entirely replaced skywriting, and banner towing has put a big dent in skytyping. The skill to skywrite could be thought of as flying in cursive, and it’s a dying art, and risky to be making all sorts of swooping maneuvers in an airspace that may also have other planes and helicopters. Skytyping is easier to do as it’s five planes flying straight ahead, side by side, with a computer puffing out oil to make the smoke. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeysBrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ab097/32.png) [@MonkeysBrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeysBrother)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/5 "2021-04-03T17:18:11Z")
Need to send a big message? > **[Sky Typers](https://www.skywritingads.com)** > > WHO WE ARE The purpose of Skytypers is to provide a unique, compelling and cost-effective medium (called Sky Billboards™) for outdoor communication to reach mass markets. The goals of Skytypers are to help private and public organizations inform and... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/6 "2021-04-03T17:41:43Z")
I saw skytypers a couple of years ago at an air show, and that’s the only place I’ve ever seen them. Towed banners, however, are fairly common. Nearly every day in the summer, you’ll see one for the local chocolatier. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/7 "2021-04-03T19:35:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > you’ll see one for the local chocolatier. Malley’s? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/8 "2021-04-03T19:38:51Z")
I can’t really recall ever seeing skywriting in my lifetime (born in 1975), but sky typing I do remember from my memories in the 80s and maybe early 90s. That said, I haven’t seen either probably since then. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/9 "2021-04-03T20:22:35Z")
I’ll admit to never hearing the term sky typing before and to my mind, I’m sure I’ve mixed the two up as the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/10 "2021-04-03T20:38:02Z")
This is the first I’ve seen the term “sky typing”, but I’ve seen it in action. The earliest I recall seeing it was in the mid-to-late 1960’s in Los Angeles, when Laura Scudder’s did a massive advertising campaign with it. I haven’t seen any form of skywriting in California for 40-some years or more. I’ve always assumed it was outlawed as causing too much unnecessary air pollution. That was well before any modern pollution controls, and the Los Angeles summertime air was nigh unbreathable. When I moved to the Bay Area in 1960 it was just a little bit better, but getting worse over the next 10 years. It’s all gotten MUCH better since then. But I’ve always figured that skywriting was banned because of that. Skywriting even made an appearance in The Wizard of Oz. ETA: Banner towing is still a thing though. I have a friend who does banner towing now and then. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/11 "2021-04-03T20:47:18Z")
Not since the 1970s. Do you think it’s fuel prices, or pollutants in the smoke? ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/12 "2021-04-03T20:48:55Z")
I think it has a limited audience these days … what with everybody constantly looking _down_ at their devices 😉 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/13 "2021-04-03T20:50:09Z")
I’ve read that the banners are just cheaper and far easier. Both options need fairs, busy beaches, festivals or like I mentioned above Disney World. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/14 "2021-04-03T21:05:53Z")
Yeah, they have a pink-and-green banner that says (CHOC). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/15 "2021-04-03T22:22:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Towed banners, however, are fairly common. Nearly every day in the summer, you’ll see one for the local chocolatier. Towed banners are common in Chicago. Mainly when sporting events are happening or some other big gathering thing (Gay Pride Parade and such). I have not seen a skywriter in ages. Dunno why. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/16 "2021-04-03T22:40:02Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ll admit to never hearing the term sky typing before and to my mind, I’m sure I’ve mixed the two up as the same thing. Me too. I’ve never seen the loopy thing and I’ve always known “sky typing” as “sky writing.” The towed banners are more impressive when you see how it’s done. They don’t take off with the banner. That would be too much drag for the plane and probably damage the banner. Instead they take off without it then swoop down and catch the banner with a tail hook. Once they have it they have to yank back on the stick and swiftly gain altitude. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CUiXk3_eqJ0/maxresdefault.jpg "Flying a banner plane over the Jersey Shore is more dangerous than you think") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUiXk3_eqJ0) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/17 "2021-04-03T22:40:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Yeah, they have a pink-and-green banner that says (CHOC). - Did the other guy show up late? :flees: ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/18 "2021-04-03T22:49:49Z")
I remember skytypers (thanks for giving it a name!) from the mid-70s off California beaches. The closest thing to skywriting I’ve seen was on several occasions in the 80s when a plane was practicing making hearts (badly). Every guy would turn to his girlfriend or wife and claim they paid for it. The reply was just as predicable: “You couldn’t afford a better pilot/writer?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/19 "2021-04-03T22:54:30Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I remember skytypers (thanks for giving it a name!) from the mid-70s off California beaches. The closest thing to skywriting I’ve seen was on several occasions in the 80s when a plane was practicing making hearts (badly). Every guy would turn to his girlfriend or wife and claim they paid for it. **The reply was just as predicable:** “You couldn’t afford a better pilot/writer?” - “Looks broken to me.” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332/20 "2021-04-03T22:54:56Z")
I saw skywriting a long time ago, but not in ages. I’ve seen skytyping (never heard the term before, but the description is spot-on) probably forty years ago. I don’t think I’ve seen that since. I do see the towed banners, though. They were a common feature at the Jersey Shore in my youth, and I still see them there and here in Massachusetts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-skywriting-still-a-thing/939332.md?page=2)